Emilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton

First publication on this particular aspect of Châtelet studies: Founding Physics in Metaphysics – against Newton und Maupertuis’s empiricism First publication on a woman philosopher, physicist and mathematician in the 18th century Honouring for the first time a women philosopher of the 18th century who worked specially on Mathematics, Physics, Philosophy The mediation between Newton and Leibniz

Emilie du Châtelet was one of the most influential woman philosophers of the Enlightenment. Her writings on natural philosophy, physics, and mechanics had a decisive impact on important scientific debates of the 18th century. Particularly, she took an innovative and outstanding position in the controversy between Newton and Leibniz, one of the fundamental scientific discourses of that time.

The contributions in this volume focus on this "Leibnitian turn". They analyze the nature and motivation of Emilie du Châtelet's synthesis of Newtonian and Leibnitian philosophy. Apart from the Institutions Physiques they deal with Emilie du Châtelet's annotated translation of Isaac Newton's Principia.

The chapters presented here collectively demonstrate that her work was an essential contribution to the mediation between empiricist and rationalist positions in the history of science.

Ruth Hagengruber holds a chair in Philosophy at the University Paderborn, where she is head of the research areas History of Women Philosophers and Scientists and Philosophy and Computing Science. She studied Philosophy and History of Natural Sciences, with a concentration in the History of Geometry at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. She received her Master’s degree with a thesis on Plato’s Symposium, her Ph.D. deals with Renaissance Metaphysics and Mathematics in the philosophy of Tommaso Campanella, Academia 1994. Ruth Hagengruber earned a certificate in Economics and wrote on Nutzen und Allgemeinheit. Zu einigen grundlegenden Problemen der Praktischen Philosophie, Academia 2000. Since 2001 she has been engaged in research in the area of Philosophy and Computation Science, documented also in Philosophy’s Relevance in Information and Computing Science, Springer 2011. She is editor and author of several books and essays contributing to the History of Women in Philosophy, as Von Diana zu Minerva. Philosophierende Aristokratinnen des 17. Und 18. Jahrhunderts, 2010 Akademie; Klassische Philosophische Texte von Frauen. Texte vom 14. Bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 19982 et al.; Major contributions on Emilie Du Châtelet, Edith Stein, on the idea of a history of women philosophers from ancient times up to now. Currently she is preparing a textbook on women philosophers and is focusing on Economic Aspects in Political Philosophy, incorporating the writings of women philosophers in her research.

“The aim of Émilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton is ‘to make the intellectual strength of Émilie du Châtelet apparent and to facilitate a better understanding of the singularity of her work.’ … this book offers not only an important contribution to the literature on Émilie du Châtelet, but also insight into the philosophy of science.” (Robyn Arianrhod, The Mathematical Intellingencer, October, 2016)

“This is a valuable collection, focusing on Madame du Châtelet as a serious contributor to both eighteenth-century science and philosophy. Anyone who is interested in studying her ideas in the context of eighteenth-century European mathematics, science, and philosophy should become familiar with its contents.” (Judith V. Grabiner, AWM Newsletter, Vol. 43 (3), May-June, 2013)

“Hagengruber’s collection of essays provides the most comprehensive coverage of Châtelet’s work currently available. … the bibliographies of primary and secondary works are exhaustive, and the introductory essay by Ruth Hagengruber is a good introduction to Châtelet. … this is a very worthwhile collection, and for those coming to Châtelet for the first time, the introductory essay and the bibliographies will prove invaluable.” (Stephen Gaukroger, Philosophy in Review, Vol. XXXII (4), 2012)